Representations of Diversity The Power of the Media 1

Imagination Exercise Imagine that you are looking at a daily newspaper. What images/photos can you see? What images do you see in the sport section? What images do you see in the politics section? What images do you see in the health supplement? What images do you see in the gossip/celebrity section? What images do you see in the economics section? What images do you see in the culture supplement?

Questions What did you see? Did you see people? What people did you see? Did you see women in the sport section? How were they clothed? Did you see a disabled person in the politics section? Did you see a dark-skinned man in the health supplement? Did you see an older diva in the gossip/celebrity section? Did you see a woman wearing a headscarf in the economics section? Did you see a gay man in the culture supplement?

Study “Press Watch – a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the portrayal of men and women in the print media” Verein DOKU Graz 2010 Women and men are visualised differently in the media and therefore also in the public sphere Women and men are portrayed according to the established gender stereotypes (men - strong, women – sexy) Women and men are portrayed in those categories that correspond to their respective role assignments Men are displayed more often (average difference for 6 Austrian daily newspapers analysed: women minus 7) Very little diversity is on display (dark-skinned, older, disabled people etc.)

The Impact The media does not portray reality and consequently it simply reproduces stereotypical role models and role assignments. It presents a false demographic picture. The real diversity of people remains unknown to us Organisations/institutions/companies have blind spots when it comes to personnel recruitment.